Project Westy

Jeez its been awhile since an update...im trying im trying. Its difficult to write on the road on the ipad and even harder to find good wifi to connect to. But thats OK :) Whatever challenges we face on the road its only temporary, and happiness is always inevitable.

Before we hit Flagstaff we camped overnight at bluewater state park in new mexico. We pulled helga up to this awesome campsite on a bluff overlooking a lake while the sunset. It was gorgeous!

Flagstaff is a truly amazing town, it great how many health conscious and nature conscious people there are there. Solar trash compactors, solar panels, compost bins, gardens, water collecting....the list goes on and on. Excuse me for one moment...i hiked camelback today here in phoenix and im dead tired.
ill summarize whats happened at a later date. but stay tuned for the stories of sedona secret spot exploring!
arizona arid desert driving and phoenix fun mountain climbing!

Its been a busy few daysAnd each day is a new experience. This is only our fourth day on the road. New Orleans was how I thought it would be bourbon street was a trip, it's a definite party town. We drove through the ninth ward and saw the katrina damage. Every turn there brought feelings deeper then what you could see. The French quarter was nice but looking past that and feeling with your soul, it felt otherworldly.

From there we drove through to Houston which has the craziest roads vie ever encountered. Traffic everywhere, crazy knots of twisting roads. Madness

Were in San Antonio now driving back from canyon lake. Rodney had friends here who certainly showed us a good time. The river walk was great and let's say our "scene"here was not our "scene"

On the way to Austin and I think roswell after.
One thing I can say though. So far so good :)

Alright we've been driving for 8 hours and still haven't left this state. Thinking about it some I'm pretty sure Florida could be the most boring state to drive through. Rodney tells me that Texas is much worse but since I've never been Texas it almost seems moderately exciting.
Helgas gas tank is leaking a little bit when she whets topped off but other then that she's running like Forrest gump. Still have another 4 or 5 hours to go on the road. I'll let you know when we get there. Safe travels

Ok ok it didn't go that flawless. Upon reading the last paragraph rodney says I should've mentioned this mornings drama. So this morning rodney had to go get a cortisone shot for his shoulder. We leave dex in helga in the shade with water and the windows cracked. Few minutes of waiting I hear a police siren and think nothing of it. A few minutes go by and i look out the window behind be and i see a bunch of firefighters with helgas doors opened and some angry guy saying rodneys door chipped the paint on his car. Basically it's illegal to leave pets in the car "here's your warning" and for the guy complaining aboutn his precious car... Here's your info have a great day goodbye I don't ever want to see you again.

Alright back to the road!

It's right around the corner...and needless to say it still hasn't hit me. The supply list is made. The route is pretty much made and were hitting new orleans first. You should understand that a trip like this for me, I thought it would only be a dream. Things have fallen into place for us to be able to go on this trip and there is no better person or van or dog (Dexter ) to do this with. :) pics in the next update

We're getting close everyone. Sorry its been so long, sometimes we get caught up in the thick of things and can't keep up. But we all come around eventually. :)

So the big thing is we aren't going to Alaska or to California.....The thing is we were making it a big deal that we were even going to Alaska and doing a blog just for that. But things change and we're not stopping the blog.
The plan is on August 19th leave here and head to New Orleans, go through phoenix, and flagstaff.  Hit Las Vegas in time for Labor Day weekend and head to Colorado, to Chicago to North and South Carolina. We'll be gone for six to seven weeks. It's going to be an amazing trip, and you can bet that i'll (John) be trying to blog when i'm not driving or doing something extra awesome. More posts to come

So what goes first the good new or the bad.....

*coin flip*

Bad news first. Rodney and I have decided to not go to Alaska, we figured we'd be rushing all around the country for two months and wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much. Oh well dreams can wait i guess :(
On the flip side of that we get to enjoy more of the country and get to slow down and take our time.
and the bad news continues... We've had some financial hiccups recently that won't allow us to do as much as we'd hoped, not sure where that's going to take us as far as the status for this trip but we will know as the time gets closer...


And finally a glimmer of good news. Helga is repaired! She had about $1300 in work done to her to replace the brakes, shocks, new fuel tank and a new propane system. And the fine people at Dynasty Auto even dinged out a big dent on the back bumper for FREE.  I'd like to get new side door speakers next so we can crank it up to kill out the road noise, and because sometimes...louder is just better.
here is a picture from a party before we took her in, Way to be hippie :)

Well I'm sure some of you want to know some about Helga...her story goes as follows

Back in November of 2009  Rodney found Helga through a person on craigslist, the listing was showing her as a 1982 Westfalia for $4500 with only 69,000 miles. We thought something must be up to affect the price but we also had a feeling that this would be the one we would settle for...

After driving three hours to Cape Coral Florida we came upon something special in a house by the water. She was kept in an air conditioned garage, the seller listed every fault with the VW which included her square tires from sitting for so long and the accelerator shaft being off.....and that was pretty much it. The interior was in practically mint condition, the sink was spotless, the fridge worked, the poptop was in great shape. Heck she even smelled brand new. He had every vehicle maintenance receipt for it and  if there was one thing i remember about the whole thing it was that this guy was very particular about EVERYTHING. A certain oil, certain tires, every spare part he gave us had an extra that was labeled, which was a great thing to see;  you could tell this guy cared about this vehicle and restoring it...

I remember Rodney asking "You wanna do it?" I sighed and smiled "Yeah let's do it" and we purchased her on the spot for $4500                It was about 8 or 9 when we finally left his house and after being there for about six hours we were exhausted from everything.  We had drove her to Applebys,  and had Margaritas and beers, ah the simple pleasures. We got toiletries in a Walmart and coincidentally it was also the first place i have ever shampooed my hair in a Walmart bathroom...needless to say walking out of there with slit eyes and a mop for hair, people did not have good thoughts when they saw me..

We headed towards a tire place that had a particular tire we needed. We camped in her overnight in the tire parking lot until the next morning and paid $700 for a new set of tires.

Fast forward to a week later, we drop her off at a local mechanic for a tune up and they call back an hour later saying that she doesn't need a tune up and that everything was "Like new." Excellent that's money saved.

Currently she is in the shop getting some minor repairs done to her brakes, a new fuel tank installed, new propane tank, new shocks. We should have Helga back by next week and when we do we're going camping!


Interior shots are coming when we get her back STAY TUNED!

-John